Netherlands, 24-May:
Kronemeyer Banned
For Two YearsDutch
squash player Karen Kronemeyer has been banned for two years by the
Netherlands Squash Bond.

Traces of the banned substance benzylpiperazine were found in a
urine sample taken from Kronemeyer during February's Dutch National
Championships.

In her defence, the 25-year-old from The Hague stated that she "had
always done her best to participate in her sport without using
doping" and insisted that she had "never intentionally taken any
forbidden substances".

The Netherlands Squash Bond Disciplinary Committee ruled that "Ms
Kronemeyer will be banned for the period of two years, as stated in
Article 1.39 of the Doping Regulations. The ban will take effect
from 12 February 2006; the date of the urine sample."

Australia:

Hunt leaves

Australian squash for
Qatar

Australian squash legend Geoff
Hunt is to leave his position as High Performance Manager at
Squash Australia to take on the role of Head Squash Coach at the
Qatar Sports Institute.

Hunt, one of the greatest players
in the history of world squash, will move to Qatar in early May
to become the gulf state’s first ever head squash coach.

Hunt has been the High Performance
Manager for Squash Australia since January 2001 and has been
involved with the sport for many years as a player, a national
selector and in various coaching capacities.

He was with the Australian
Institute of Sport (AIS) squash unit from its inception in 1985
and was head coach there for 18 years, before opting to scale
back his involvement and take on a consultancy role.

Hunt said the offer to head up the
Qatar
squash program was an opportunity too good to refuse.

“It is an extremely well resourced
institute,” he said. “You don’t often have the opportunity to
work with the best people in the industry in fields such as
sports science and sports medicine.”

While
Qatar does
not have an established group of senior players, Hunt said a
base of junior talent had been nurtured over the past few years
and he would be overseeing their graduation to the higher level.

He said while he was sad to be
leaving the Australian squash set up, he was confident the
sport’s future was in safe hands in both coaching and
administration.

“I have particularly appreciated
working with (Squash Australia CEO) Norman Fry – he is driving
Squash Australia in a healthy

direction,” Hunt said.

“It is just
that the
Qatar role
is simply

an opportunity too good to resist.”

Andrew Dent
Squash Australia

Geoff Hunt -
The Facts

Born
March 11,
1947 in
Melbourne

Resides: Gold Coast

Career Highlights:

Geoff Hunt, without doubt
Australia’s
most prolific male squash athlete, won every major international
tournament during a glittering career.

He blazed the global squash scene
winning three World Amateur Championships in 1967, 69 and 71 and
won the inaugural World Open in 1976 before collecting three
further World Open titles, in 1977, 79 and 80.

He complemented these victories
with eight British Open Championships in 1969, 74, 76, 77, 78,
79, 80 and 81. During these glory years he remained as world
No.1 from 1975 to 80.

He went on to represent
Australia
three times as an athlete at the World Teams Championships in
1967, 69 and 71, then as a manager/coach.

He won the Australian Open eight
times - in 1971, 74, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80 and 81.

Hunt, who won 178 of the 215
tournaments he contested, has been honoured by the World Squash
Federation, being inducted into the WSF Hall of Fame as well as
the Squash Australia Hall of Fame as a “Legend”. He has also
been inducted into the Australian Sport Hall of Fame.

Hunt began playing squash at the
age of 12 and won his first State championship, the 1962
Victorian junior title, at the age of 15. The following year he
won the Australian Junior Championship and his first open event,
the Victorian State Championship. In 1965, at 18, he became the
youngest player in history to win the Australian national title.

His services to squash and sport
have been acknowledged by the Australian Government on two
occasions when he received the decorations of the MBE and AM.

Pakistan:
Life ban for Gul

Former world number six Mir Zaman Gul has received a life ban
for threatening an Australian World Squash Federation official
during a tournament in Islamabad last December.

Jahangir Khan, president of the WSF, told Reuters that
although the incident occurred six months ago the Pakistan
Squash Federation had informed them of the ban last week.

"They say they took action a few months back but they didn't
disclose it until last week, which is understandable as such
incidents bring a bad name to Pakistan," the six-times former
world champion said.

Australian assessor Chris Sinclair complained to the WSF that
Gul had issued threats against her if she did not clear him as
a referee during the world team championships.

Pakistani Gul was on the list of markers who conducted the
championships under Sinclair's supervision.

"He is no longer allowed to have anything to do with squash as
he displayed an irresponsible attitude," PSF secretary, wing
commander Zulfiqar Ahmed said.

Portugal:Matthew Theodoris wins Algarve
Open

The athlete Matthew Theodoris won
the Open of the Algarve 2006 in Squash, which took place
recently at the Barringtons Golf and Health Spa in Vale do Lobo,
which featured more than 50 participants from throughout the
country, the United Kingdom and Holland.

In the final, the player representing the United Kingdom
(although resident in the Algarve) beat the Portuguese André
Lima in a closely contested game, which ended with a score of
9-7, 10-9 and 9-3 in favour of Theodoris.

This was the first such Squash Tournament in the Algarve for
many years but, according to the organisers, "the players and
Federation confirmed that it was a success" and that there
should be another tournament in 2007.

Zambia:Zambia’s Ndlovu wins Nico tourney

Zambian star Kelvin Ndlovu
became a millionaire in his country’s currency, when he won the
main prize of US $500 (about MK67,500) in the K800,000 Nico
General International Squash tournament played in Lilongwe from
last Friday to Sunday.

Ndlovu won the prize after trouncing Malawi’s squash champion
Aubrey Taulo 3-0 in the final of the A Division at Capital
Hotel.

He scooped the US $500 main prize, which translates to about
1.6m Zambian Kwacha. His runner up got US $300 (about MK40,500)
with third placed Julius Taulo pocketing $200 (about MK27,000).
Fourth placed Chikumbutso Mkutumula, who lost 3-1 to Julius
Taulo, received $150 (about MK20,250).

Egyptian squash player Amr Shabana
who won the world championship late last year and came first at the
Bermuda Open Squash Championship held in April was on Monday
bestowed sports medal of the first class by the President Hosni Mubarak.

Shabana expressed deep thanks to
Mubarak and officials at the Sports Body in Egypt for such great
honor, asserting he would exert utmost efforts in future squash
events, especially at the coming world championship due to take
place at the Pyramids plateau in Cairo in September.

The ceremony, held at the
presidential headquarters in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis, was
attended by Head of the National Council for Sports Hassan Saqr and
chairman of the Egyptian Federation for Squash Galal Allam.

More than 600 players from 13 countries will take part in the
world's biggest squash junior event, the Milo All Star International
Junior Championship, which will be held at several venues in Kuala
Lumpur from May 31 to June 4.

Squash Rackets Association of Selangor (SRAS) president Datuk
Mohamed Aini Taib said Monday that the annual tournament, which
started with 360 players from eight countries in 2000, had been
getting overwhelming entries each year.

"Last year, 490 participants from 10 countries took part. And this
year, Taiwan and Indonesia will make their debut," he told reporters
here.

Mohamed Aini said that with the enormous number of matches that
involved 616 participants, SRAS would be using three venues -- the
Astaka and Catholic High School in Petaling Jaya and the Shah Alam
Club in Shah Alam.

As the world's biggest junior event, the SRAS, as the organiser, was
offering a total prize money of RM43,000.

"Malaysia is banking on Low Wee Wern who is the top seed in the
Girls U19 category. Besides Wee Wern, the SRAS is hoping for
all-Malaysian final in the Girls U13 with Low Wee Nee and Tan Yan
Xin being the first and second seeds.

"In the boys categories, we will just give our best shots as the
second and top seeds in each of the categories are dominated by
Pakistan," he said.

Besides all the states in Malaysia, the championships have attracted
participants from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, South
Africa, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand,
Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Cayman Islands:Chaloner wins World Class Squash Challenge

World Class Squash Professional
Mark Chaloner showed the local hotshots just how hard it is to
get a point from one of the best, as he took on the best Cayman has
to offer on 7 April.

The large crowd was fascinated for
two hours as Gabe Rabess, Jeff Broderick, and Dean Watson
tried every trick in the book to get nine points in nine games.
Rabess would be up first, with three games in which to try and make
an impression on Chaloner.

Despite Rabess’ iron-man fitness and
formidable retrieving ability, the fast and long points of the first
three games left him looking a little worn, and the hotshots without
a point.

Then it was over to Broderick, as he
tried to score the first points for the hotshots.

Broderick also failed to take a
point in his first game, the fourth of the match, against Chaloner,
but a spectacular forehand drop-shot in the fifth game finally
handed the hotshots their first point. Only outright winners could
succeed, as Chaloner simply just did not miss. And with the hotshots
throwing everything they had at Chaloner, his composure on court was
something to behold.

Dean Watson, a former 81 in the
world himself, and a brilliant shot-maker, looked like he had the
best chance of taking on Chaloner, but Chaloner took another 9-0
victory in the seventh game. The challenge of taking nine points off
him in nine games was starting to seem completely impossible.

With Chaloner starting to tire ever
so slightly, and Watson getting into his stride and playing
incredible squash, the hotshots claimed another point in the eighth
game.

This still left them well off their
target of nine, but nothing was going to stop Watson from trying.
The ninth and final game served up more points for the hotshots than
all the other games put together, but even with three points scored
against Chaloner in the final game, Watson could not drag the
hotshots to the required nine points.

The final score was 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 /
9-0, 9-1, 9-0 / 9-0, 9-1, 9-3. The event was sponsored by Cayman
Contractor Store and Transparent Tools. With enthusiastic support
from the local squash crowd, the World Challenge Series will
continue in early June.

The announcement that the 2006 Men's
World Open Squash Championship will be staged in Egypt
is the latest indication of the sport's rising significance on the
continent of Africa.

The continent celebrated its first world number
one squash player in April when Amr Shabana topped the
rankings for the first time.The 26-year-old
from Cairo
became the first Egyptian to be crowned world champion in 2003 –
then clinched the sport's premier title for a second time last
December in Hong Kong.

Shabana will now seek to become the first world
champion to defend his title on home soil for ten years when the
2006 event is staged alongside Egypt's famous pyramids in Giza -
arguably the most spectacular setting ever for a sporting
confrontation.

Squash is played in 27 countries in Africa,
where there are more than 6,000 courts, and 21 National Federations
are members of the WSF.In addition to Shabana, Egypt also boasts both World Junior
champions – Ramy Ashour, who won the men's title in
2004 and will defend his trophy later this year, and Raneem
El Weleily who secured the women's crown in July last year.

Egyptand South Africaare the dominant nations in Africa."But there is a 'renaissance', particularly in countries like
Botswana, Kenya and Mauritius,
where new chairpersons have recently taken charge," commented South
African Liz Addison, a member of the WSF Coaching &
Development Committee.

Mauritius
was represented in the squash events in the 2006
Commonwealth Games in Australia
for the first time after strengthening their relationship with their
Olympic Committee following their hosting of the WSF AGM in 2004.

The highly successful Melbourne Games in March
also saw participation by Kenya,
Malawi,
South Africaand Zambia.The men's plate event finished in an all-Kenyan final, while
both Classic Plate titles went to South Africans - Clinton
Leeuw winning the men's and Tenille Swartz, the
only teenager in the women's draw, lifting the women's.

The world-class squash competition attracted a
number of NOC officials, including Zambian President Mrs M
C Moyo and Secretary General Ms Hazel Kennedy.The pair are preparing plans to host the 2011 All
Africa Games in Lusaka,
where it is hoped that squash will again be featured after being
included in the 2003 Games in Abuja,
Nigeria.

There are a number of Zambians playing in South
African leagues in Johannesburg
and Pretoria
– including Lazarus Chilufya and Ray Simbule.Top-ranked Zambians Patrick Chifunda and
Robbie Lingashi are based in America,
while John
Lingashi is in Namibia.

In an initiative organised by his racket brand
Prince,
England
star Peter
Nicol made a promotional tour to
South Africa
last month.Winner of two Commonwealth Games
gold medals in Melbourne, Nicol was widely profiled on national TV,
radio and the press in visits to Johannesburg,
Pretoria
and Cape Town
where he gave clinics and took on the country's top players in a
series of exhibition matches.

"Squash is very lucky to have an African nation
at the very top of the sport - I can't think of many sports that
have World Champions from the Africa,"
said WSF Chief Executive Christian Leighton."But even more important is the continent's potential.
I think sport administrators and governments are
beginning to realise that Squash is a sport in which African nations
can excel and that is very encouraging."

Super Series:
Bajwa Retains Rights
To Super Series Finals

US-based squash promoter Satinder
Bajwaof Complete Squash Solutions (CSS)
has reached an agreement with the Professional Squash
Association (PSA) to retain exclusive rights to the
Super Series Squash Finals for a further five
years, making it the professional game’s longest-running promoter
partnership in the UK and the second longest worldwide behind the
Hong Kong Open.

Last year Bajwa, currently Head Coach at
Harvard University, celebrated his tenth
anniversary as promoter of the prestigious eight-man event and his
sixth year of promoting the tournament in partnership with
London-based Sports Marketing Agency, WSM.The new deal will see him take the tournament through to the
year 2010.

The tournament has produced some classic
encounters over the years. Peter
Nicol's victory over Simon
Parke in the 2000 final is still considered one of the finest
matches of all time, and earned a standing ovation from, amongst
others, the then Minister for Sport Kate Hoey MP.Nicol's defeat to arch rival Jonathon Powerthree years later is also widely talked about as one of the
greatest of the 43 matches played between the pair.

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